Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
Issue link: http://ornamentmagazine.epubxp.com/i/476566
30 ORNAMENT 38.1.2015 Carolyn L. E. Benesh Smithsonian Craft Show 2015 T he history of contemporary craft, dating from the mid-twentieth century, early on included the craft show. Part of a post-World War II renaissance of our cultural and artistic life, these shows served as a conduit for the rediscovery and reminder of the critical role artisans have played in the nation's development and to its material and spiritual progress. The Smithsonian Craft Show has been an important participant in this history. Since 1983 and located in the nation's capital, it has hosted one of the nation's best shows, where each spring it celebrates the creative spirit of America. Held at the National Building Museum, some one hundred twenty artists gather to present their handmade crafts, demonstrating with each piece the strong and enduring currents of innovation and creation native to this country. In 2015 the Smithsonian Craft Show sponsors its thirty-third annual event and its commitment to selecting the very best in craft is once more reaffirmed and validated by the talented artists who showcase their works. Here are some of them. Mingling classical formality with contemporary design, Mina Norton's coats and jackets beautifully enhance the female form. Her forte while refined is also very spirited, strengthening and deepening over her career. With a fine art training background initially in Iran, her native country, Norton's prior instruction extended to the study of design in London, before she moved to the United States and settled in New York City where she makes her home. Her art is also her business and it is important to Norton that each customer receives something unique; so in large measure her garments are improvisational one-of-a-kind productions. Her palette stems from a temperate black or gray, but then MINA NORTON: WEARABLE ART